The room went quiet at Damian’s words. Akira had her lips pressed together in a grim expression. Damian looked angry. Zoe and Tiar seemed neutral. Yuna and Sarah only frowned. 

“Oh. Okay,” Erica said. Yuki could tell that she didn’t quite understand the meaning behind Damian’s words completely.

“Let me explain what exactly that means,” Yuki said, his calming tone a far cry from Damian’s anger. 

He raised a hand and formed a barrier with a small trickle of mana. Then he moved it, the barrier moving in the air until it floated in the air in the middle of the meeting table.

“I think I already discussed what a barrier really does, right?” he started. “But to review, it absorbs the energy from an attack. So either mana or physical. When elemental magic is thrown into the mix, then the barrier will have to be tuned to specifically absorb that type of mana since it is no longer just pure mana.” 

The barrier dissipated into the air.

“So why would a fused mass of all the elements be dangerous?” Yuki continued, leaning back into his chair. “Well, it’s because it would contain all the elements simultaneously. It doesn’t just fuse and become one completely different thing. You know what that means about the barrier right?”

“It would have to be attuned to every element,” Erica replied with a raised brow. 

“Yup. If it isn’t, then one of the elements will disrupt the barrier and destroy it quite nicely.” 

“Nice isn’t really the word I would use to describe that,” Damian said. Yuki glanced towards him. “Fucking terrifying would be a mighty good start.”

“You do have to admit that it is quite nice from an objective point of view, no?”  

“Well, yeah. But I’m not objective.” 

“I can see that. But back to why a multi-elemental beam is so dangerous,” Yuki shifted back. “Not only will the barrier have to be all of the elements, each element has to be equally as strong as the beam itself. The barrier needs to be infused with elemental mana in order for it to become attuned to an element. The amount infused as well as the strength of a person’s affinity affects the strength of the barrier.”

“And since no one alive right now is attuned to every single element, the shield would need to be formed by multiple people of equal strength,” Akira jumped in. Yuki nodded at her conclusion. “Linking spells casted by multiple people is a whole other discussion as well.” 

“Yes, but I’m sure that this gives everyone here a clear understanding of how dangerous this type of weapon would be,” Yuki finished. He looked around at everyone at the table again, waiting. 

“How exactly did they manage to put all the elements in a stable state?” Zoe said, speaking for the first time and asking the exact question Yuki was waiting for.

“Good question.” Yuki leaned forward, putting his elbows onto the table. “The way they did it was simple. So simple. It was so simple that I’m surprised that I, or really anyone in general, didn’t think of it before. Here’s what Mason Inc. has seemed to have figured out.” 

He traced a circle on the table and a holographic plate appeared. Then he divided the plate into seven sections.

“Let’s say that this plate represents the beam,” he began. With a few more taps, he created a cone and placed the plate on top of the tip of the cone. “The plate right now is balanced. It is just pure mana right now.” 

More taps and seven different colored balls formed in the air.

“These are the elements. What happens when we put only one element in the beam?”

A ball floated to the plate and rested in one of the seven sections. The plate immediately tipped in that direction. 

“The beam assumes that element’s attribute,” Yuki said. “That should be self explanatory. Now what happens when we place more than one element on that plate?”

Another ball floated down on the plate directly opposite of the first ball. The plate leveled back. 

“When placed opposite, they balance. Again, nothing new.”

Now another ball and the plate was one again thrown into imbalance. It tipped to its side and with it, the two balls that were already on the plate slid to the side. 

“A third element will mess up the equilibrium again. And as you can see here, another problem appears. The new element will draw the others towards it, weakening them.” 

With a snap of his fingers the balls on the plate disappeared. 

“So how to fix this? Simple. Just put balls in every section,” Yuki said with a shrug. Seven equally sized balls appeared and rested on the plate, one ball for every slice. “And look what happens.”

Plate remained balanced. 

“And that was the solution. Simple, isn’t it?” 

“That seems a bit too simple,” Zoe replied as she gave the model a critical gaze. “There has to be a catch. What is it?” 

“You’re right,” Yuki nodded with a small smile. “Look closely. What else has to happen for this balance to happen?”

The room quieted before Akira’s head went up.

“The elements have to be the same strength,” she answered. “Or in this case, the balls need to be the same mass.”

“Exactly.” Yuki tapped on the table and one of the balls enlarged. “When they aren’t the same, the entire system is thrown off.”

The plate tipped again towards the direction of the larger ball, the other balls rolling in the same direction.  

“When one element is too large or too small, then the beam would be imbalanced,” Yuki explained. “Of course, there is a margin of error, but that margin is very small. There are also a few other factors that have to be considered such as complementary elements and counter elements, but that’s a discussion for another day.”

With a wave of his hand, the model disappeared as well as the various screens that were open. The room darkened before lights slowly turned on.

“I think you all understand why this weapon suddenly became more dangerous, so let’s move on to something equally as important. The location of the facility.”

“You know where it is?” Erica asked with a frown.  

“No, but I now have the tools to find it,” Yuki replied. “Now that Uriel has access to the database that is directly connected to the weapon, she can scour the information available. Tiar, your job hasn’t changed. Just find what you can in the safest way possible.” 

“Got it,” Tiar nodded.

“I’ll be calling everyone back here once new information is found. Zoe, the new medics should be reporting today, so just a heads up.” 

She gave him a nod before standing and leaving with a wave. Tiar followed her. Yuki turned his attention away from the two of them.

“Erica, Gatekeeper has approved the transfer of a few people into the guard unit,” he said. “He told you, right?”

“Yup,” Erica replied. “I need to go and show them the ropes right now. Test them as well.” 

“Go ahead then.” She nodded and left. “Now. Yuna.”

Yuna’s head went up, her eyes focusing on Yuki as she waited for whatever Yuki was about to say. 

“You seem distracted,” Yuki said. He noticed that she was barely interacting during the meeting and would stare off into the distance at random times. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no,” Yuna replied with a shake of her head. “No. Nothing’s wrong.” 

“Did something happen?”  

“Um. Nothing important.”

“I see.” He stared at her as she averted her eyes from his. “I won’t dig, don’t worry. As long as it isn’t negatively impacting you, then I’ll let you manage your own business. But if it still bothers you, then remember that you could always come and tell me.” 

“I understand,” she said quietly.

“Good. Everyone is dismissed now.”